Wagashi
by ForgottenLuminescence
Summary: After a long day at work, Yukimura muses upon the man who proved a worthy opponent to him. One-sided YukimuraxSakura


**Wagashi**

Yukimura smiled kindly as he watched the children walk home with their parents. They were such good children, so energetic and kind to each other, and he felt welcomed by them from the very first day. It wasn't the same as Osaka, but he had a feeling that he would enjoy being in Kudoyama Nursery as well.

As he returned to the building, he said goodbye to the other teachers who smiled at him and thanked him for the hard work today. They were nice people, truly caring towards the children, and he could tell from the warm sparkle in their eyes when the children greeted them every morning. He felt the same way, the flutter of happiness to know that the children liked him and that he must have done something good to make them happy. Children should be happy, after all.

"Evening, Engetsu," Yukimura smiled as he sensed his _oni's_ presence, in the form of a cool fox nose brushing against his hand. "Saizou and Sasuke should be here soon."

The fox seemed to smile, amusement in the gold eyes, and he couldn't help releasing a gentle laughter as well.

The Ten Braves were always so loyal to him, and he appreciated every one of them but never have special attention to anyone; he spent more time around Saizou and Sasuke since they were the leaders of the Ten and thus had to report to him directly most of the time.

Yukimura sighed, more from pleasant exhaustion of an equally pleasant day than anything else, and sat down at his desk. Before his followers would arrive, he should get some work done and prepare for the next day's activities. Hana would be coming over tomorrow, and it would be good if they had an activity everyone could participate in; the children liked Hana as well, but he tended to worry that there would be children left out if everyone wanted to play with Hana instead.

As he worked, he heard rustling behind him. Engetsu often did that, either pacing around him or simply snuggling into a pile of whatever it could find, while waiting for him to finish work. It was endearing, though he worried that the fox might break something by accident every once in a while. In a sense, he tended to be a sort of a parent with his Ten Braves and his oni, caring for them and worrying whenever they got into trouble.

This time, however, it sounded like a different sort of rustle.

"Engetsu?" Yukimura said as he turned around, only to smile again the moment he saw the fox sniffing at the package of sweets from the Urashichiken, which had been left on a table short enough for it to reach.

There had been enough for the children, the teachers and even the Ten Braves, but the part that Yukimura appreciated most was that there was even a snack for Engetsu tucked into the package. And the fox had learned that after a few weeks of its contractor receiving the fragrant and tasty gift.

"Alright, you can have your snack now," Yukimura smiled gently, stroking the soft fur of his _oni_ while fishing out the said snack from the package. "It seems that you really like Sakura-san's cooking."

While Engetsu happily ate its treat, he was given time to think.

When they had all first met, he hadn't expected the tall, white-haired man to be able to cook. He would have also expected to hear a different name from him if Sasuke hadn't informed him beforehand that the man called himself "Sakura".

Yukimura took off his glasses and wiped them clean as he sank into thought, remembering the challenge he had presented to the Urashichiken. It had been a long time since he had found such a worthy opponent, but he was glad to have that opponent as his ally. The fiercest warriors had always been capable of befriending each other, with only the separation of loyalty to hinder that almost-friendship, and so it would be good that he had consented to serving the Toyotomi once more.

Remembering the consent led to remembering the moment when Sakura had turned the odds in his favour.

Yukimura wasn't one to show his emotions—never once showed his emotions in battle—but, since he was alone with only Engetsu by his side at the moment, he allowed himself to feel the heat. A shade of the palest pink faded onto his cheeks as he recalled how the larger man had pinned him down. Despite having been impaled, Sakura had still managed to smile and lick his lips—Yukimura felt the heat on his cheeks grow slightly upon remembrance—still managed to talk too much as he had throughout the fight.

The Ten Braves would have made a fuss, turning over mountains and rising the sea, if they knew their master was...attracted to the man who almost defeated him, but it was unlikely that they would fervently object. There was no doubt that, had Sakura been of "Yang", he would have won the fight easily, and the Ten would have felt secure if their master went with a man like that, who could protect him if there was a need. They wouldn't admit it, of course.

Yukimura was too serious for silly things like crushes, but he couldn't deny that he rather liked Sakura. It hadn't solely been because of the battle between them, but also because he had gotten to know the members of the Urashichiken after moving here, and Sakura was quite a charmer.

A worthy opponent, a kind man who smiled and spoke nicely to everyone he met, a handsome talent who seemed to master every practical skill one could think of; even his voice was so cool and sultry. Yukimura admired that about the white-haired man, and the memory of the fight they had simply turned the admiration into a mild infatuation.

He didn't mind. Sakura was a good man, after all, and it seemed as if Tachibana already made all hope impossible so he didn't dwell on his slight crush.

Still, when Yukimura picked up his share of the sweets, he couldn't help feeling a warm, bubbling form of happiness inside him. Sakura knew what everyone liked, and even made each portion unique to their preferences. It made Yukimura happy that the man had known what he liked, though he wasn't some giggling schoolgirl elated at the attention given from her crush.

He thus smiled as he ate the sweet steamed bun—mildly wondering if Sakura even knew how to bake the Western equivalent, muffins—and enjoyed the snack as much as the fox next to him did.

"Evening, Yukimura-sama!"

The spectacled, elegant warrior sighed and finished eating his treat before getting up to let his ninjas into the office. It seemed that he had to put away his silly thoughts for now, and focus on more important things at hand.

He could think about Sakura anytime he wanted, after all, and no one would ever notice.

* * *

**I haven't written a fanfic in a long, long time, so pardon me if Yukimura is a bit OOC ^^; **

**Gate 7 is now my obsession, and sadly there doesn't seem to be a lot of fanfics or fanart around so I guess I'll have to get off my lazy butt and contribute XD **

**Yes, I know that Sakura and Tachibana are almost canon but I figured it'd be cute if Yukimura liked Sakura. I mean, who wouldn't like him? THAT MAN IS SEXY AND FLAWLESS.**

**"Wagashi", by the way, means Japanese sweets. Things like mochi, dango, steamed muffin-cake-things and red bean soup.**

**Okay, I'm done talking XD Please do review if you can~ And thank you for reading~**


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